ASSIGNMENT: WHY PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Project management has emerged as a crucial factor that

determines the success of an organization. Whether it is a
question of facing an economic crisis or generating large
turnover, project management plays a pivotal role in the growth
of a firm.

Project Management is the acquired knowledge and skills

applied using a formal set of tools and techniques to initiate,
plan, execute, monitor, control and close projects.
Since time immemorial, man has incorporated the idea of project
management in the construction of monuments and various other
architectures. However, since the early 1950s, project
management started to be pursued as a major discipline in the
corporate companies. Project management forms the bedrock in
the fields of civil engineering, defense, aerospace engineering
and infrastructure development and certainly in management
studies in its discipline.

Henry Gantt, known as the father of planning and control

techniques, and Henri Fayol, famous for his 5-Point
management theory on project management, are regarded as the
two stalwarts of project management.

Companies recruit project managers that lead the team in order

to timely achieve the targets set by the clients and customers. In
management terminology, the duration in which an entire
project is carried out, from its inception till the end, is called the
project life cycle. The project life cycle can consist of one or

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multiple project management approaches. The management
approaches are the various project management methodologies
that the team can decide to follow so that the target is achieved
in assigned time.

What are the various management approaches? The most basic

analysis of the project is known as the initiation stage of a
project. After this stage, designing or planning is done to
streamline the task and make a flexible strategy to complete the
task. Then the execution phase takes the center stage, and in this
phase, the project is practically tackled with all its pros and
cons. The monitoring and controlling of the project is done with
the execution stage to check the possible threats and keep an eye
on the performance of the team. Once the project is about to
finish, it goes into the closing phase, where all the activities are
finalized.

WHY PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT:-

Having elucidated on the meaning and concepts here are some
of the prime/outstanding advantages of having a good project
management team for a company/organization and are as
follows:-

Excellent Product Quality:- Consumers generally look for

low cost and high quality, while purchasing a product.
Maintaining a high standard of excellence in developing quality
products earns the company goodwill amongst its customers.
How can a project management team help in improving the
quality of a product then? The project management plans the
allocated budget, resources and testing methods that keep the
pace of production high, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
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The project management team can also undertake what is known
as Six Sigma training programs that enhance the quality of the
products which in recent times have been widely adopted by
many firms/organizations which emanated from the initiative of
a criticized Motorala Company in the USA as built initiative in
the late 1980’s and full streamed in the 90’s.

The Six Sigma Project Management is an endeavor to achieve

better, faster and less expensive products and services than the
competition, through the use of statistical tools within a
structured methodology. The projects are selected based on key
business issues and a repeated and disciplined master strategy is
applied on them. This results in increased profit margin and
impressive return on investment. The Six Sigma initiative has
typically contributed an average of six figures per project to the
bottom line of achieving 99.999666 percent successes.
The executioners of the Six Sigma Project Management are
trained in the Six Sigma philosophy and methodology and are
expected to accomplish at least four projects annually, which
should deliver a minimum annual amount of $500,000 to the
bottom line. Thus Six Sigma Project Management focuses on
out-of-the-box thinking, channeling the company to change its
culture through breakthrough improvement in order to
achieve aggressively stretched goals.

Six Sigma Project Management was first taken up by Motorola

in the early 1990s. Since then many companies have undertaken
the initiative and have observed various benefits such as an
increase in life of the equipment produced, productivity gains
and thus an eventual increase in return on investment.

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Ultimately it can be said that, if deployed properly, Six Sigma
Project Management can infuse intellectual capital into a
company and produce unprecedented knowledge gains that
translate directly into bottom line results.

Adequate Communication:-Improper communication

among employees can lead to misunderstandings and negatively
impact the performance of the firm. A project manager can be a
bridge among the diversified branches of project undertaking.
And why only employees? Stakeholders also form a part of the
company. They prefer investing in those companies that deliver
projects on time and keep them informed about updates and
progress of the projects. If a client is satisfied with the
performance of the firm, it is likely that it will return with much
bigger projects, not to mention huge investments. A project
leader can hold meetings on a daily, weekly or monthly basis
and can make sure that everyone is aware about the project plan
and his/her responsibilities, both as an individual and as a team.
With the help of human resource management department,
project managers can be more effective in communicating the
expectations of the clients.
Reducing Risks:- The probability of getting hit by an
unwanted or unexpected event has increased manifold in today's
competitive business environment. Why is project management
so important? The project management team can identify the
potential risks, take their time to rectify them and help the
company save valuable resources. In case of worst crisis, the
project management team can opt for change management
method to attain the desired goals. Team work is a must, when it
comes to visualizing the dangers ahead. Risk management
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principles can be applied by the project managers to eliminate
risks to a larger extent.

Strategic Objectives and Goals:- Strategic goals are the

blueprint of the task undertaken by a company. For instance, a
software company aims to prepare software and related
programming codes, whereas an infrastructure company has a
target of constructing dams, bridges and other construction
works. A project management team helps the company in
achieving the strategic goals, as it streamlines the task of a
company in taking many important decisions. Strategic planning
and strategic thinking are vital management tools for a project
management team and is quite necessary in objectives and goals
achievement.

Once the task is allotted, the project team is responsible for the
goal to be finished in the dedicated time. Innovation is an area in
which the project team can invest more and come out with new
ideas that can increase the sale and reputation of the firm.
Human resource, financial planning, corporate social
responsibility and physical resources are other facets of strategic
goals.

Project management is an essential segment in every

organization. Be it as it may, the small scale enterprises or
corporate giants, project management has the power to
transform the market standing of a company and help it soar
high in the sky.

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Perhaps one of the foremost skills required of managers, project
management is so important that many companies hire
individuals strictly to organize and oversee various projects. In
many cases, when no viable candidates are available either
outside or within the company, the firm will contract with a
consultant to oversee a project. The difficulty with project
management, though it closely resembles a typical working
environment, is that team members may not have worked
closely together in the past and project deadlines are usually
more pressing than normal working situations.

It has become very crucial therefore, that a project manager has

to be aware of the various project management methodologies,
their pros and cons before restricting himself to one particular
methodology. Though there are a handful of methodologies
proposed, presented are the ones that have been widely accepted
as applicable. These methodologies are the basic methodologies
as well and the project manager is supposed to have a good
knowledge of these by default.

The Waterfall model:-

In software engineering, the waterfall model is the
traditional method used in the development life cycle of a
system. As the name suggests, in the waterfall model, there is a
flow from one phase to another, where, in each phase a desired
outcome is achieved. Though this method is rigid, it is simple to
implement. This model allows for modularization and promises
the delivery of the project on time. However, once started there
is no backtracking possible. This proves to be disadvantageous
in situations where a possible fault is detected during the testing
stage. This model is best suited for small, simple and
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inexpensive projects. Most of the people nowadays prefer the
alternate available methodologies to the waterfall model.

The Spiral model:- The spiral model is seen as an extension of

the waterfall model. It is best suited for projects that are
relatively complex and expensive. This method introduces the
concept of prototyping. The steps involved in this model are
presented briefly:
Upon the definition of the new system requirements, an initial
design is created for the system. This is said to be the first
prototype of the system and usually provides an approximate
picture of what the product might look like.
The second prototype is evolved by evaluating the first
prototype for its strengths and weaknesses, defining the
requirements, planning and designing the prototype, and finally,
constructing and testing the same.
This prototype is subjected to evaluation as the first prototype
and this process is iterated until we arrive at a final refined
prototype.
The actual system is built upon this refined prototype.
The Rapid Application Development (RAD) model:-The
RAD model adopts the concept of object oriented programming
that facilitates software reuse. This model aims at the rapid
delivery of the product which is of a higher quality. The steps
involved include gathering requirements using focus groups,
designing the prototypes and testing the same, reusing the
component thus created and have a maintenance team to
periodically check the accuracy of the product. Java and C++ are
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the programming languages employed that help in the
development of this model.

Dynamic Systems Development Model (DSDM):-The

Dynamic Systems Development Model is perceived as the
evolution of the preceding Rapid Application Development
model. It believes that no software component can be flawless
the first time it is built. The principles of this approach include
giving high importance to the user requirement, making the user
actively participate in the development process, on-time delivery
of products frequently, employing recursive development
strategies to narrow the accuracy of the solution provided,
testing the components independently and in cooperation, and
maintaining a healthy relation with the stakeholder.

Adaptive Project model:- The Adaptive Project model believes

in the philosophy that the scope of the project is subjective to
variations and the client could capitalize on this by changing the
project toward a direction that provides him the maximum
benefit upon examining the conditions in various iterations. This
approach promises a healthy client involvement, frequent
incremental outcomes and a continuous process of introspection
and questioning.

There are numerous other methodologies most of which are an

extension of the methodologies explained above. As a project
manager, a person has to be well informed about the various
techniques involved and possess a knowledge good enough to
decide what methodology to adopt and where in the project.

Projects as well, often what

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 is need to be followed, and
is the 4D
When you're a busy manager and managing, needed is a clear
but simple process which is model which provides such a
process.
The project may be something you've been given to manage,
with little say in its definition. Or it may be something you have
generated yourself.

Either way, to complete a successful project, and thus be a

happy project manager, beginning with proper planning time is
critical. The importance of ensuring that outcomes are
meaningful and worthwhile before you start cannot be in no
way overlooked but must be emphasized.
Below is the model for the 4D Model most suitable in many
objective cases.

The 4 D Model

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Managing a project is one of those situations where you have
defined responsibility as the project
manager to deliver something
tangible in the organization. You can make an impact both on
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your organizations performance and on your own reputation.

So it is vital to set off on the right path. Clarity in the aims,

objectives and outcomes for the project are essential to start
well and must be then supported by a well crafted plan.

Having dwelt thus far, Project Management is so significant in

the above reasons of cutting down cost, quality and quantity,
communication flow and more market takeovers maintained,
meeting up time and forecasting future occurrences that may
hinder the progress of the project and thereby causing any
defect is corrected in time.

References

1. ^ a b c Chatfield, Carl. "A short course in project management". Microsoft.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/HA102354821033.aspx.
2. ^ *The Definitive Guide to Project Management. Nokes, Sebastian. 2nd Ed.n.
London (Financial Times / Prentice Hall): 2007. ISBN 978 0 273 71097 4
3. ^ Paul C. Dinsmore et al (2005) The right projects done right! John Wiley and
Sons, 2005. ISBN 0-7879-7113-8. p.35 and further.
4. ^ Lewis R. Ireland (2006) Project Management. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006.
ISBN 0-07-147160-X. p.110.
5. ^ Joseph Phillips (2003). PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide.
McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003. ISBN 0-07-223062-2 p.354.
6. ^ Dennis Lock (2007) Project management (9e ed.) Gower Publishing, Ltd.,
2007. ISBN 0-566-08772-3
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managing projects. Elias G. Carayannis et al. (9 eds), Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. ISBN
1-56720-506-2
8. ^ David I. Cleland, Roland Gareis (2006). Global project management handbook.
"Chapter 1: "The evolution of project management". McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. ISBN 0-
07-146045-4
9. ^ Martin Stevens (2002). Project Management Pathways. Association for Project
Management. APM Publishing Limited, 2002 ISBN 1-903494-01-X p.xxii
10. ^ Morgen Witzel (2003). Fifty key figures in management. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-
36977-0. p. 96-101.

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 11. ^ David I. Cleland, Roland Gareis (2006). Global project management handbook.
McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. ISBN 0-07-146045-4. p.1-4 states: "It was in the 1950s when
project management was formally recognized as a distinct contribution arising from the
management discipline."
12. ^ Booz Allen Hamilton - History of Booz Allen 1950s
13. ^ Bjarne Kousholt (2007). Project Management –. Theory and practice.. Nyt Teknisk
Forlag. ISBN 87-571-2603-8. p.59.
14. ^ http://www.ipma.ch/publication/Pages/ICB-IPMACompetenceBaseline.aspx
15. ^ F. L. Harrison, Dennis Lock (2004). Advanced project management: a structured
approach. Gower Publishing, Ltd., 2004. ISBN 0-566-07822-8. p.34.
16. ^ Winston W. Royce (1970). "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems" in:
In: Technical Papers of Western Electronic Show and Convention (WesCon) August 25–28, 1970,
Los Angeles, USA.
17. ^ a b Stellman, Andrew; Greene, Jennifer (2005). Applied Software Project Management.
O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-00948-9. http://www.stellman-greene.com/aspm/.
18. ^ OGC - PRINCE2 - Background
19. ^ a b c d e f g h i VA Office of Information and Technology (2003) Project Management Guide
US DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. March 3, 2005.
20. ^ a b c PMI (2010). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge p.27-35
21. ^ Peter Nathan, Gerald Everett Jones (2003). PMP certification for dummies. p.63.
22. ^ Harold Kerzner (2003). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning,
Scheduling, and Controlling (8th Ed. ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-22577-0.
23. ^ a b James P. Lewis (2000). The project manager's desk reference:  : a comprehensive
guide to project planning, scheduling, evaluation, and systems. p.185
24. ^ a b NASA (2001). NASA NPR 9501.2D. May 23, 2001.
25. ^ Albert Hamilton (2004). Handbook of Project Management Procedures. TTL Publishing,
Ltd. ISBN 0-7277-3258-7

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